Arnold Schwarzenegger has opened up about the “chapter” of his life spent with his ex-wife Maria Shriver, with the actor revealing it will go on “forever”.
After finalising their divorce in 2021, a decade after Shriver filed, the exes reportedly prioritised their family above all else and decided to focus on their children and grandchildren. Their daughter Katherine’s children Lyla, three, and Eloise, one, who she shares with her husband Chris Pratt, has led their story not to stall but continue, this time around as grandparents.
“We never left the [first] chapter,” Schwarzenegger explained to People while promoting the upcoming release of his new motivational book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life, which will be available 10 October. “Because remember, it’s not like we had a feud. We didn’t have a fight. It’s just my f*** up, right? She said: ‘Okay, this is what it is,’ and then she decided to make a split, so it was her decision. But the fact is, we always made it very clear that the kids should not suffer because of that.”
Two months before her divorce filing, Schwarzenegger revealed to the public that he had an affair with the family’s housekeeper Mildred Baena, and fathered a son, Joseph Baena, now 26.
Since he dropped the bombshell, the former couple’s relationship has never been the same, but the pair have remained committed to celebrating family milestones and holidays with each other, putting their differences aside for their children Katherine, 33, Christina, 32, Patrick, 30, and Christopher, 26. Most recently, they celebrated Patrick’s 30th birthday together.
“So everything is kind of just as if we’re together but we have separate lives,” Schwarzenegger continued to the outlet. “And she has her things, her relationship, I have mine, but we always communicate about the kids, about the holidays, about birthday parties and Mother’s Day parties and Christmas. My chapter with Maria will continue on forever. Even though it’s a different relationship, there’s no reason for me to feel anything other than love for her.”
In his book, the Terminator star wrote that in the “fourth act” of his life, he aims to share what he’s learned to “help other people”. He added to the outlet: “It’s the simple stuff that I do that really helped me get where I am today.”
Since his divorce, Schwarzenegger has gone on to date physical therapist Heather Milligan. After the actor’s shoulder was injured in 2012 while preparing to film 2013’s Escape Plan, Schwarzenegger was recommended to see a physical therapist as he recovered from surgery, which is how the pair met.
“Any football players or baseball players, any athlete, I always send them to her, because she’s the only one that really knows what they’re talking about,” Schwarzenegger recalled his surgeon saying. “So I went to her, and then after my therapy was finished, after I was finished with the movie, I called her back and took her out for lunch to say thank you. And then one thing led to the next.”
